An NRN Special Report: Consumer Picks

The customer experience — that sum of all the parts that affect a consumer’s interaction with your brand — has always been important, but never more so than it is today.

To better understand the elements that comprise that all-powerful dining experience, Nation’s Restaurant News and WD Partners developed the Consumer Picks survey, a comprehensive study of customer attitudes culled from covering 152 restaurants brands, up from 139 chains from last year.

Meet the Top Five Consumer Picks winners

Family DiningIncluding: IHOP, Bob Evans Restaurants and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

Also take a look at favorite restaurant chains based on demographic groups in this breakdown of which restaurant came out on top for whom.

The full Consumer Picks special report is available exclusively in the Aug. 6 issue of Nation’s Restaurant News. Full chain rankings, consumer demographics, and comparative data sets are outlined in the special section. Subscribe today.

Methodology

Online survey respondents were given a list of 171 restaurant chains organized into groups based on chains' service models as well as the respondent’s geographic location. They were asked to identify which restaurants they had patronized in the last six months, and then were then asked to rate their experiences at the restaurants. Results are shown as the percentage of top-two-box ratings received, based on a standard five-box scale.

From Dennis Lombardi of WD Partners

“Because of the success of last year's survey, we were encouraged to make this year's review bigger and better."

Consumer Picks is intended to help point brands in the right direction when it comes to satisfying guests.To our knowledge, this is the only study of its type that is provided at no charge to the industry.

- each of the 5 box scores for all attributes ― for your own brand or competitors’
- full data sets on each brands' demographics, including how various consumer groups rank individual brands, i.e., analysis by age, sex, household income, or employment status
- geographic breakdowns (region or state)
- oversampling of specific markets
- and more